Let it Grow, Let it Grow

Broad Question

Will water amount affect Spirodela growth

Specific Question

Does the evaporation of water affect Spirodela growth

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that plants with evaporation will die

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

Water Evaporation

Dependent Variable:

Spirodela population

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Temperature and Amount of light

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

Spirodela: Aquatic plants

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General Plan

I will get a bunch of Spirodela plants, put them in 10 cups, and measure the number of plants in a cup over the course of a couple weeks.
I will put a cover on cups 1-5 and I'll leave cups 6-10 alone. The plants will be in a room temperature place. Every day I'll actually collect data.

Potential Problems And Solutions

Cats or siblings could knock over the cups.
Close door and and keep windows open.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

I could cut myself cutting something
I could accidentally drink the plant thinking it's water

Experimental Design

(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

Number Of Trials:

2

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

5 for each

When data will be collected

March 20- April 5

Number of Observations:

16

Where will data be collected?:

Sean Littlefield's science room

Resources and Budget Table

Data Table

Time Line

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Background Research

There is a creature, that lurks under you. It swims a floats and even roots the ground. It gets stuck in your shoes, it is killed nearly every day. It is very small. It is a plant. This is the story of his survival.

A plant has roots that grow hair and absorb water. The water is then sent to the center of the plant. Also for land plants, the roots keep them stuck to the ground so they're not blow away in the wind. Plants have four parts. One of them is the Epidermis, which is the outside part. It acts like skin protecting their inners and all. When water is absorbed it goes to the second part, the center, the Stele.That's near the veins, or the xylem. That carries water throughout the plant. The last part is in between the Stele and the vain and is called the cortex

A plant needs light, soil water, and air to survive. They will die when they don't get these things. Aquatic plants only need water and light. Spirodela is aquatic plant that floats on top of the water. Plants are one of the most hunted species in the world. Small plants like Spirodela will even get eaten by large mammals. During winter Spirodela sinks to the bottom of a pond in winter and comes to the top to repopulate in spring. Sometimes Spirodela freeze and are a good treat for fish. It's tough for Spirodela because of these things.

Spirodela is part of the Aracaespecies. It is also called duckweed. Mostly, only 2-5 plant leaves can be attached to a root. It can have two to 21 roots. Spirodela is 10mm long. It can be green, white when it's growing or dying, with red or brown undersides. Sometimes it will form floating mats with other Spirodela species. Spirodela is found throughout China and is used in herbal remedies. The plant is extracted from a lake, cleaned, the dries in the sun, and the whole plant is used in the remedy.

As you can see Spirodela is used every were, every day, and is wicked helpful. From being grown for aquariums, to a source of fish food, to herbal tea recipes, it's almost world widely used, and some don't even know it.Even though it's small Spirodela is an every day used thing, Kinda like a pencil. So remember the next time you step on a Duckweed, think of what your doing.

References

Wikipedia contributors. "Spirodela." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 3 Feb. 2012. Web. 3 Apr. 2012.
"Plant Needs." Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. <http://www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/education/needs.html>.
"How Plants Grow." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation. Web. 02 May 2012. <http://library.thinkquest.org/3715/root2.html>.

Detailed Procedure

1. Get ten cups and fill them almost full way (doesn't matter the temp.)
2. Put one to five Spirodela plants in each cup
3. Cover 5 cups with saran wrap and the other 5 don't
4. Record how many plants are in each cup over the coarse of 16 day

Diagram

Photo List

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Results

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All Raw Data

(see data table above)

Graphs

Cup 1, grew only two plants and ranked 2nd for evaporation and 6th overall
Cup 2, grew a woping five plants, at one point lost some, ranked 1st for evap., and 3rd overall
Cup 3, grew only one plant losing some at one point, ranked 4th for evaporation and 9th overall
Cup 4, grew only two plants, losing some, ranked 3rd for evaporation, and tied for 8th overall
Cup 5, grew only one plants and ranked 5nd for evaporation and last overall
They all lost zero water.

Cup 6, grew an incredible 6 plants and ranked somehow 3rd for no evaporation and 4th overall
Cup 7, grew an impossible seven plants tied for 1st for no evaporation and tied 1st overall
Cup 8, grew a woping five plants and ranked 4th for no evaporation and 5th overall
Cup 9, grew a good four plants and ranked 5th for no evaporation and tied 8th overall
Cup 10, grew an impossible seven plants tied for 1st for no evaporation and tied 1st overall
They all lost most of the water.

Photos

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Data Analysis

Conclusion

Does the evaporation of water affect Spirodela growth? It is hypothesized that plants with evaporation will die off. First, cups 7and 10, which had water evaporation, had 12 plants at the end of 16 days while the cup with no evaporation, number 2, had 10 and was the highest for no evaporation.
Also cup 5 with no water evaporation had 3 and the least overall but cup 9 with evaporation had the least for the evaporation's with six. Even water evaporation's least beat two overall. The hypothesis is completely incorrect because it said the opposite of the results. So does water evaporation affect Spirodela growth? No, no it doesn't.

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Discussion

I started to answer my question when I noticed that the cups with evaporation had more in all than the others on about day 10. A problem I faced was at a couple points, some cups lost plants that weren't meant to. The relationship between the independent and dependent variable is very weak. This reason why this is, is the plants that experience water had grown 18 more plants.To improve it I could put them in a place with better temperature. This information could be used with people who are trying to grow aquatic plants, for an aquarium. It would be useful to aquariums so fish have food. This information could help people understand how aquatic plants grow.

Abstract

Does the evaporation of water affect Spirodela growth? It is hypothesized that plants with evaporation will die. A plant needs light, soil water, and air to survive and they will die when they don't get these things. Spirodela is a water plant that floats on top of the water, it can have two to 21 roots, and only 2-5 plants can be attached. Spirodela are also called duckweed, sinks to the bottom of a pond in winter and comes to the top to repopulate in spring. I set up the project by getting ten cups and filling them almost full way. Next I put one Spirodela plant in each cup, cover 5 cups with saran wrap and the other 5 don't. Last I recorded how many plants are in each cup over the coarse of 16 day. When the results came, the control cups had grown 30 plants but at some times some of the cups lost plants. The control plant that had the most, was 3rd overall. The other cups had grown 48 plants! These also lost some plants at some points. The two plants that had the most tied for 1st, ahead of the ones supposed to not die.